CHAPTER XXXI CLARICE UNDER FIRE.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 165, 14 August 1886, Page 6

CHAPTER XXXI CLARICE UNDER FIRE.

Mb Edwaeds, who hud come <, on from New York at Clarence's request, bad a national reputation ai a lawyer. i . He was a quiet, .observant man, with a genius for unrwelliug tanglei and getting at the bottom of things. . •

ynCJomingn'p 6n?th©:traih heihad Ireaduthe lohg-newspaper 'account* ;ofH*»!The vWi i lo#ei modTMgedy,'!', an d»snotw6o^the'm;»^r6ed irt fthy«vitJttl^poiit,mhe ithrewvlthem away ■vvithoutiobeibßt thetalfeastrienlightened^sor die»6pointe.d^-*M>t6 the- oase.^ tryalsi '-s<&a . ♦Through conversations f had;-withf parties on the wayj'lMi''BdWardßj;howav6r, l learned enough i to convince him k that i his young friend was in what/he I called •* a> rery bad circumstantial bdxv" "•>',«■. >»m; ru*' But now thatjKe<»w l aaifao6tofab©r\rith Clarence, he-felt- that~he< would coon be in possession of a frank, dear statement that would ! enable Bihf.fo see Bi» ; Way through to the end. Mr Edwards 'waited 'until Charles Spencer — whoso r mother was the sister of Clarence's father — had delivered all the news •from home, and 1 had dwelt upon' the faith of Mrs Ash worth in her son'; then he said : , u Now, gentlemen. , let us., proceed to business. Mr. Ashwosth, do you object to your cousins-presences -presence V" ' " Not at all, " replied Clarence. • • I have nothing to say that 1 am not perfectly willing for all the world to hear r-" '• And which you stand ready to prove.*' "iVill leave you to be the judge of that when I have stated my case." "That's to the point. f Now begin awAy back at the beginning, , I am hereto listen. Tell me all about your' connection with the Beriefords ; . why your ' brother Went ' up to Willowemoc, and everything thtt happened up to the present time." V That would take half the day." " I don't care if it takes half a year ; let us have it, and then I shall cross-examine. Meanwhile if you don't object I shall smoke. Take a cigar, Mr A'shworth ? Ah 1 I forgot, it is Mr Spencer who smokes." Taking the permission for granted, Mr Edwards and Charles Spencer lit their cigara, and the former settled himself comfortably back in his chair to listen. With a terseness that rather added to the pictureeqaorieea of the narrative, Clarence told his story from beginning to end; and when he had concluded the lawyer knocked the ashes from hisoigar, looked up at the ceiling, and said : " There is not a shadow of a doubt in my miad as to your innocence ; but let me say that to a jury who cannot possibly' know you, your case, if properly presented by the State, must look very bad. " I must accept your opinion, but it does not seem so to me," said Clarence, uneasily. "Of course it doesnt'. Now about this confounded dagger - I wish it had been left with the Thuge." " I echo that wish from my heart." "You say it was clean and bright the time you saw it before it was put in evidence at the inquest?" Yes." ' ' It was kept in a secret drawer ?" 11 Yes" " Of which you had the key ?" " Yes." " Where did you keep the key ?" ll Ona ring with a lot of other keys." " And where did you keep the ring ?" "In theright-hand pocket of my troußers." " Could you have left it there at any time when you changed your clothes ?" " No ; I always made it a point to take out the keys." " You are sure of this ?" "I am certain." " Can you imagine no way in which any one might. have gotten possession of your keys temporarily ?*' " I cannot, and I am sure it was never done." " But some one must have opened that box besides you ?" *' That is very evident." " Neither murder was committed for gain, I believe ?" *'Ko. The bodies were not plundered." *' Then you do not suspect Dr. Berisford's servants ?'" "On the contrary, they are an excellent lot of people," (< And you do not think any of them opened your box ?" •• I am sure they did not." " You have thought aboutthis case a great deal ?" " Yes, a great deal." Mr Edwards puffed at his cigar till be got it to going well, then he blew out a jet of smoke and suddenly asked : ♦•Do you not suspect some one?" The nature of the question and its unexpectedness staggered Clarence, and for some seconds he could do nothing but swallow lumrjs. This agitation did not escape the lawyer for he said, with a complacent smile : •• Ah ! I thought we should get the right track after a bit." Another pause, and he asked in the same startling way : ' You know of Borne one who could have opened your box without your key ? Isn't that it?" '• Do not press that question," stammered Clarence. " Why not ?" *• Because I shall not anewet it." " Ah, then you do know of some one who could have opened your box with another .and a similar key. I shall look upon that question aejbeing answered in the affirmative. But let me say, my young friend, that there is no court in the world that will take that view of it," said Mr Edwards, as he turned up the sole of his boot preparatory to striking another match. *' Cousin Clarence," said young Spencer, speaking with much agitation, "if you were not alone in the world, 1. might call your willingness heroism ; but you should not forget that the good name and the happiness of others are involved in what the law shall say as to your guilt or innocence. Leaving out of question my own immodiate family, all of whom love you and believe yon guiltless, I ask you not to forget your poor, crushed mother, who has not yet recovered from the death of one son before the worse fate of another prostrated her on a bed from which it is for you to say whether she shall ever rise again. I know how she lovob you. I know" now you love her. She stands on the brink of the grave, reaching out her hands to you. Is she to sink into it, heart-broken and disgraced, with tne knowledge that her only son is a self- convicted murderer ?" " Merciful Heaven, Cousin Charle3 ! do not put it in that way, or you will drive me insane !" cried Clarence, covering his face with his hands. "He has stated the exact truth, and I cannot see bow, in justice to the case, ho could well put it in milder terms," said Mr Edwards, as he threw away his cigar stump with an air of impatience. For the moment the tortured Clarence wished they had not come, and that he was back again in the cell from which he had been taken by the hermit. At the thought of his mother, the tears burst from his eyes, and he threw himself for. ward, on the office table and trembled with agony. Seeing this, Mr Edwards motioned to Charles Spencer, and they went over to a window and pretended to be interested in a rather forbidding prospect. ♦•Must I, in order to, save my own wretched life, swear away the life of my kinsman— my mother's cousin-M iriams father?" ( , v , * ( This was, the , question that struggled into Clarence's mind .through the black clouds, that enveloped him. , He was, in no mood to find the answer.

,i4sUm]gthltfc rs|ejt£*la fSb*r**S& rgftoh. ing out bis hands, imploringly, he cried : * iteJjomv&l'tiiiQ loiter ine;i<>iEhd>£le4ii m« think l".mnJtib')tt 'sjbU^// ml\ "A capital suggestion, my dear Ash■ftorthji^ We am; here uto/see; you through, and , -we (propose ;i to s do it,", said ftr Jilr Edwafdo. - v . , j v ' *- Kit ' We!;are Here to -aaW'your life," added Charlea'Spencer.^ <"'."-" "' i" '-'< * !*! * s"What ia-.the- saving of* a. life ,if , itja saved^pnly ,to> be made for t ever wretched?" ( grdaned Clarence.. lr , „ „ --" ;.,";. . ? 'Trust us to, examine everything carefully," , jai'd/Mr r Edwards, r proceedingr'to pub on his gldyea. "' "" !. t \ t ./J '\ ,< „ "<Mr Spencpr and I. shall .drive over to WiUowemo'c, and, we may not" be back ,tyll morning, „b ut, before, going we shall iee .that this brutal-looking sheriff makes you cpmf ortable. " , ' , „ The sheriff was called, , and, after his duties in . the case had been statecl to him very plajknly,',he agreed* to' give the prisoner the very best that the place afforded ; and let it be recorded that be kept his word. , "Is your Cousin Clarence in love witK any lady X' , asked Mr, Edwards as he and Charles Spencer drove to Willowemoo. " I think not. Ido not believe he ever had a love affair.". , ' , '* That's strange for a man of twenty-five. I was never what might be called a ladies' man, but I'd, had a half-dozen love affair? before I was that age. Now, il I only knew he was in love with some one oat here, we'd have * clue. Dr. Berisford had a daughter ?" ' *Xeß, and a very beautiful one. The lady we just met." " Ho 1 ho !" exclaimed Mr Edwards. "But she is engaged to Shirley Benson—" " What I that fellow, the shipbuilder's son ?" , "Yes." " Well, that does not argue much for her | taste. Do you know him ?" "No, never saw him; but I believe he is now at Berieford Manor." 11 1 never saw him either. By Jove ! that scent looks promising." "What scent?" Why, the scent that leads to Shirley Benson. We must pose as detective* %nd pump him to-night if he can be got at. Now I recall that he figures as a most active and important personage in the newspapers reports," said Mr Edwards. They reached Willowemoc, and put up at the Anthony Wayne House. In reply »o their inquiries, the landlord, who showed them to a room, told them that Shirley Benson was in the bar-room at that moment. Mr Edwards, who had given fictitious names for himself and Charles Spencer, said : " Please, Mr Landlord, to tell Mr Benson that two how York detectives, on the Penfield case, would be very much obliged to him if he would come to their room." Shirley Benson bad just come down from his stormy interview with Miriam, and he had been appeasing his feelings with stimulants. On learning the request of the detectives, he went at once to their rooms and introduced himself. "You have been so intelligently active in the unfortunate troubles up here,' aaid Mr Edwards, " that myself and friend, who have come here on that case, felt that it would be unwise to take a step without consulting you." " Y ou flatter me, gentlemen," said Shirley, "and if you don't object, we can discuss this matter over a bottle of wine." The friends exchanged meaning glances, and Charles Spencer said that instead of objecting, they should be delighted to have wine with Mr Benson. As Shirley claimed te " run " that house, the wine was soon forthcoming, and it was nearly emptied, principally into the entertainer's glass, before the interview got well under way. "Well, what do you think of Shirley Benson ?" asked Charles Spencer, when that young gentleman left about dusk, saying that it was near supper time at the Manor. " I think," was the reply, " that he is an unmitigated cur ; but lam afraid he is not the man we want to put in your coußin's place." (To be Continued.)